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Betrayed
Oi! / Punk Cheriton / Folkestone 1984 - 1989 Band Members * Vince Denman (Vocals, '84-'86) * Mark Harrington (Bass) * Terry Davey (Drums) * Steve Harrington (Guitar) * Andy Gardiner (Guitar, Vocals) * Dave Bishop (Guitar, Joined '87) Info Betrayed were formed 1984 by Skins; Vince and Mark, Droog Terry; Suedehead Steve and Punk Andy, all mates who used to 'ang around down the front - the harbour and seafood market area of Folkestone on the South East Coast. Brothers Mark & Steve, used to work on their uncle Chummy's famous seafood stall. It was the seafront amusement arcade culture that brought the lads together, playing the tables in John's Pool Rooms - Space Invaders & Popeye in the Golden Nugget and scoffing down chip buttys in José's Chip Shop in Tontine St. This, along with their mutual interest for all things Oi!, Punk and Hard Rock and, after seeing Black Flag in their hometown 1985 (Stones club, Tontine Street) - American Hardcore. Saturdays were often spent in WHSmith thumbing through 'SOUNDS' weekly music paper, to see what new records were out and what bands were gigging. Then it was down to Hummingbird record shop in the Old High St. to flick through the vinyl racks before heading off to the Terraces of Cheriton Rd, to support Folkestone Town footy club with chants of 'SEA-SIDE, SEA-SIDERS' Influences were; 4Skins, Blitz, Cockney Rejects, Major Accident, The Adicts, Iron Maiden, Peter & The Test Tube Babies, Black Sabbath, Discharge, Motorhead, Cock Sparrer - local bands The Sedated & Con-Dis and the Sounds Oi! comps - Oi! The Album / Strength Thru Oi!. Betrayed rehearsed in a village hall in Newington Peene (once a quiet farming village just outside Cheriton, now the site of the Channel Tunnel). Often, school mates would turn up on motorcycles and scooters and hang out as the lads thrashed out their own compositions as well as cover tunes. (the Godfrey Brothers, later to become Morcheeba, also used this hall and would rehearse after Betrayed on a Sunday eve). After about a year the band played their first gig, supporting Vince's brothers band, - 'Aaargh Hideous' at the Cricket Club in Hythe. The lads played really well and a music reporter wrote about the band in the local rag. Spurred on by this enthusiasm, Betrayed booked a recording session in April 1985 at Chris Ashman's - Europa Sound Studios where a lot of the local bands recorded as well as the famous United Skins comp and Herne Bay legends, The Last Resort. The resulting recordings were put on to a cassette tape demo titled 'Betrayed' (the cover, a photocopy of a 1980 newspaper article about May Day violence in Southend). The tape was sold to mates and at gigs. Further gigs were booked in the local areas and again the Cricket club in Hythe with Dover Punks - Fightback (unfortunately, this gig resulted in teen violence and the lads were banned from playing here again). A second recording session was booked at Europa, February 1986 and the recordings released as the demo tape 'Forever England' - of note, the track, 'Satan's Calling' a direct reference to Iron Maiden's, Number of the Beast and Black Sabbath's NIB, along with the lads fascination with VHS horror films of the period, featured a sample of the tolling bells from Black Sabbath's track Black Sabbath. The bands handpainted backdrop featured a giant Skullfaced Reaper set amongst a graveyard (coincidently drummer Tez, worked as a gravedigger) - The tape was sent out to Oi! and Punk fanzines and picked up some good reviews for the music - however, the patriotic stance of some of the material and the tongue in cheek horror themes, presented a confusing image to most. Vince left the band to concentrate on running his family's Motorcycle shop and Andy took up vocal and guitar duty while the lads started writing new material. Around this time it was announced that construction work would begin on the Channel Tunnel. Betrayed referenced this in their song 'Knocking Down A Nation' Roddy Moreno of the Welsh Oi! band The Opressed, offered the lads the chance to record for his newly founded, split compilation series of L.P.'s called Skins'n'Punks. Betrayed entered the Europa Sound Studio once again in August of '86. The resulting recordings were released on Skins'n'Punks Vol.2 with Scottish Anarcho Punk band - Oi! Polloi, on the flipside. The album sold really well (in excess of 6000 copies in the first year) and the band started to venture further afield to play shows. An infamous show with Condemned '84 in Carshalton ended with an unintentional re-enactment of Madness hasty retreat in the film 'Take It Or Leave It' when one of the Betrayed's crew tried to cop off with a Surrey skins bird. Betrayed and road crew escaped the pub to the van, only to end up pushing it frantically to jump start, with baying local skins chucking bottles and insults.... The following year, an old Punk mate, '77 Dave - was added to the line up on guitar as Andy switched to vocals. Dave's angular and creative style, a mix of Mick Jones and Greg Ginn, pushed the band into new territory. With a raft of new material Betrayed went back in the studio, this time with Gordon Thrussel at Courtfield Recorders in Ashford as Chris Ashman's Europa Sound Studios had closed down. These recordings, considered by the band, to be their best material yet, were sent out to various labels but only one track -'Don't Waste Space' - would get to see a release, on Mark Brennan's (The Business) Oi! Now That's What I Call Music compilation. The L.P. featured bands such as; Sham69, Splodgenessabounds, The Business, The Crack and Anti-Heros and the Betrayed's track sat firmly amongst these heavyweights. The remainder of the tracks unfortunately never got to see the light of day and the band slowly drifted apart through frustration at the lack of gigs and label interest. Andy departed and the remaining members became more embroiled in the sound of American Hardcore bands such as; Cro Mags, Agnostic Front, Minor Threat and Descendents and by 1989 had changed the name of the band to 'The Snarl Ups'. Related Bands * The Snarl Ups - Dave, Mark, Steve, Terry * Christus Erection - Terry * Another Protein Loss - Dave * Intensified - Steve, Terry * Dog Ugly - Terry * Sonar Nation - Terry * The Soft Verges - Terry * The Lykes Of Yew - Terry * Medmenham - Terry * Zenith: - Terry * Crisis 1.9.8.4. - Terry Recordings * Demo Tape 1 - 'Betrayed e.p.' - 1985 * Demo Tape 2 - 'Forever England' - 1986 * L.P. - Skins'n'Punks Vol. 2 - split release with Oi! Polloi - Oi! Records - 1986 * 'Don't Waste Space' track on Oi! That's What I Call Music Comp - Link Records - 1988 * L.P. - Skins'n'Punks Vol. 2 - Repress - split release with The Strike - Step 1 Records - 2015 Gigs